Ask NerdGirl: Get Me Through That Proxy! Lock My Screen! No Outlook Calendar with LG Ally, Move Videos, and Almost Full Permissions List!

by n3rdg1rl Jul 2, 2010 1:04 PM – Leave your thoughts

I hate when life gets in the way of fun, my fun being answering your questions! I’m working hard and catching up!

Hi n3rdg1rl,

I’ve been following your column since it started and think you’re providing a great service to the fledgling Android community. People like you will go a long way to helping the platform really gain critical mass!

I own an unbranded/unlocked European Hero and am eagerly awaiting the 2.1 update that is due imminently. I’m not sure whether the problem is fixed with 2.1, but at the moment I have no way of customizing the browser’s proxy settings in order to allow me to surf the net via my company WLAN. Neither the native HTC browser, nor SkyFire, nor Opera, nor Dolphin (as far as I could tell, anyway) permit the configuration of a proxy. The only app I could find that addresses this is ProxySurf, but this app does not support HTTPS, which means it is useless for surfing my company’s intranet. It also doesn’t support Android OS above 1.5, so once I update to Éclair in the next few days, this app will be of no use to me. Do you have any idea whether Android 2.1 (with Sense) supports proxy config in the browser and if not, is there is a browser app that does, other than ProxySurf?

Thanks in advance!

There are a few different choices through the market that you can try. One thing to keep in mind is that all networks, especially corporate secured networks, operate differently so one thing may not work for you but may work for others.

Proxy Jumper is a free app that allows you to set your local port through the browser. This will work for web surfing, but not for things such as the Market and YouTube.

Proxoid allows you to set a proxy with your current browser. However, the developer is no longer supporting the app.

Secure-Me Anonymous PROXY seems to be a security suite with its own browser that supports proxy. This could be something to look into further.

I really need your help. I have an Eris and I’m satisfied with it, except for the lock screen. The stock slider lock screen just doesn’t work for me. I have the pattern lock enabled too, but that doesn’t stop the phone from answering in my pocket. I’ve tried all kinds of lock apps and none of them stop the phone from answering while in my pocket. Any ideas? Do I need to develop an app myself? Also, is there any way possible to have the pattern lock apply to incoming calls? That would solve my problems.

If you can make your own app, I fully support you with that as the Android community always needs great developers for new ideas on the Market.

In the meantime, I found one app that may work for you. It’s called Screen Suite Lock Screen. It’s made to have custom lock screens and one of the functions is that it will lock the screen when you get a call. This should prevent the physical keys from answering calls in your pocket. It is a paid app, but there is a trial you can use before you pay money for it.

I replaced my Motorola Droid with an LG Ally. (Way too many freezes and dropped calls on the Motorola phone.) I love everything about the Ally, with the exception of getting an error message for my corporate calendar. It does not transfer over. I had to sync it to Google and can’t keep the two separate as I did before. My contacts went over fine but not the calendar. Everything is checked off that needs to be and I called my carrier about this error message….they did not know how to fix it. Could you tell me why it doesn’t sync easily like it did to the Motorola phone?

Apparently, this is a known issue. LG’s official word on this is:

“Currently the Ally and Android 2.1 supports Exchange Email and Contacts. The lack of Calendar event Syncing is something that came up in Android 2.1… We are working on a resolution and it should be available “soon.” This way it won’t require you to purchase an Application to Sync your exchange calendar. I’ll post something as soon as I hear any specific news.

While I am waiting for an update, I’m using Google Calendar sync which seems to work okay for my exchange calendar needs…

I apologize for any inconvenience, but it shouldn’t be long before there is an update.”

There are applications that you can purchase that will fix this, but they are either unstable, don’t work well on 2.1, or cost money. The free, stable work around at the moment is to use the Google Calendar Sync, which is what Mr. LG is doing.

How do I get video off my phone and on to my computer? I don’t want to upload to YouTube and Gmail says the file is too big to send.

What advice can you give?

Thanks

The easiest way to do this is to hook your phone up to your computer via USB, or if your phone supports it, Bluetooth. Once you mount your phone as a drive, your videos should be available for you to transfer to your computer.

I’m not sure what phone you have, but on my phone they can be found under DCIM >> 100Media.

Hi nerdgirl,

Is there some place that lists detailed info on what exactly each security permission requested by apps grants access to? For example many apps ask for “read phone state and identity” — what state info can they get? What identity info can they read? Is it the unique IMEI number or my phone number our something else? The description shown in Android it’s very vague and is essentially useless to any security conscious person. I really hate giving apps my phone number (especially when they also ask for internet access) but I never know if they have access to it. If that info is not available anywhere, can AndroidTapp please write it up? Help a paranoid brother out.

Thanks a bunch,

SK

I had a reader actually respond to this for me on a previous post. You can find all the information on the permissions at http://developer.android.com/reference/android/Manifest.permission.html.

Thank you, Shea, for this information!

I’ll be posting again later in the day! Keep sending those questions to nerdgirl@androidtapp.com!

~n3rdg1rl

Tags: Android Advice, Android Questions, Ask NerdGirl, Calendar Event Sync Issues for LG Ally, Complete List of Android Permissions, Help with Android, Mobile Browser Proxy Settings, Screen Lock Apps, Transferring Videos to Computer on Android

Categorised in: Android Advice, Ask NerdGirl